Carlo Ancelotti could be banned for his comments at the weekend after Real Madrid drew with Girona.
Real Madrid had managed to get ahead on the scoreline through Vinicius Junior, but were pegged back by a Cristhian Stuani penalty, which was awarded on VAR review. Marco Asensio appeared to hit the ball with his hand, but Real Madrid claim it did not.
Speaking to Mundo Deportivo ahead of Real Madrid’s final Champions League group game with Celtic, Ancelotti claimed his comments had been mistranslated. He had originally complained about the referee costing them two points due to ‘an invented penalty’, as it was reported.
“They have made a formal complaint about me for what I have said. An invented penalty [rigore inventato] in Italy means that they have awarded a penalty that was not a penalty. Bad faith and accusing a referee [of conspiracy] are not present here. I have never disrespected a referee, I only said what everyone thinks. I’ve been on the bench for 1,200 games, if I miss four of them, that’s fine. For me it wasn’t a penalty because of what they explained to us at the beginning of the season. It’s enough to say that it’s a mistake. Nobody is infallible.”
Ancelotti could face a ban of two to four matches should he be found guilty of questioning the referee’s integrity. While Ancelotti still complained about the referee and blamed them for the defeat, whether he accused the referee of impure intentions could weigh in the disciplinary committee’s decision.
Once again, he was asked and reiterated his views on the penalty though.
“For us, it was not a penalty. It is a football issue that is still not clear. They have to explain what the rule is because I understand it very well. They have explained to us that this was not a penalty.”
The Italian is referring to the rule that says that if the ball deflects from a body part onto the arm, then it should not be judged as a handball. However that rule does not apply if the arm is in an unnatural position, which the referee could easily have decided, as Asensio’s arm was high and out from his body.
